Sindhi Besani or besan ki roti is a flaky chickpea flour flatbread. This gram flour chapati is a yummy breakfast recipe.It is crispy and full of flavor. We generally have it on the Sindhi festival of nandhi (choti)and vaddi Thadri(badi) or Saatam Aatham. However, you can make them for any meal of the day. It is a flaky bread with onions and some spices. You can also have it during travel. Just have it with tea if you do not have anything to go with it. It is full of proteins due to the chickpea flour or besan. Any tomato ketchup or mint chutney works well along with it. Apart from zucchini fritters, besan childa and besan laddu, this besan koki is wonderful filling besan recipe for breakfast.
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What is Sindhi Thadri? How is it celebrated?
Nandhi Thadri comes after Nag Panchami. Vaddi Satain is celebrated 7th day after Rakshabandhan. It is also called as Vaddi Thadri or saatam aatham or basoda. This is an important Sindhi festival. We celebrate it 1 day before Janamashtami in honour of Jogmaya or Sheetla mata.On both the days, we observe 'Thado' and consume cold food. Food is made a day earlier. On the day of thadri, we also worship the stove, the source of fire. Hence, it is not used on that day.
What do we do on Thadri?
On this Sindhi festival, we pray to Goddess Jogmaya or Sheetla mata for good health and prosperity.It usually comes in August/ September in the rainy season. Mothers generally sing the song 'Thaar maata Thaar Mujhe bacchiyan he thaar' as a prayer to Sheetla Mata.This is to seek blessings for their the children and save them from life threatening diseases like smallpox and measles. Generally, in rains, many kids fall sick and there was very high infant mortality rate. Parents prayed then and these rituals continue even now to seek blessings for their good health. We do a chanda on kids while singing the song. First we apply sindoor or vermillion on small lolos or dough balls. Later, we put lolo in the sieve on their head. Later sprinkle some raw milk on them (do the chhanda).
We cook food a day early. Sindhi cuisine lunch menu is elaborate. It has flatbreads like Lolo, Chauthe & Besani. Apart from Sindhi lola with jaggery there are many special recipes which are eaten cold on the next day. They are sanna pakore/double fried pakode, koki,dal ja parantha.We also make matho, dahi boondi, satpuras,nijji palak, pragri.We also eat Dahi bade and other milk based sweets like peda,kheer etc.
How to make Besani? (Youtube video)
Ingredients
- Chickpea flour/gram flour/ besan
- Onion
- Whole wheat flour/ atta
- Coriander seeds
- Cumin seeds
- Green coriander leaves chopped
- Water for kneading
- Salt as per taste
- Green chili chopped
- Oil for brushing
Spices - Turmeric powder
- Garam masala
- Red chilli powder as per taste
- Pomegranate seeds/dried mango powder/amchur
How to make besan ki roti? (step wise)
- Mix all ingredients with ¼ cup oil to make besan flour flatbread.
- Add minimal water if required.
- Knead the dough until it forms a stiff dough.
4. Divide in equal parts ,using little oil, roll it into thick flatbreads.
5 .Heat a non-stick or cast iron pan and cook flatbread brushing with oil on both sides.
6. Cook on both sides until it turns golden brown.
7.Serve hot with mint chutney or dahi boondi raita.
Besani -chickpea flour flatbread recipe
Equipment
- stand mixer
- tava/ griddle
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup chickpea flour/1.5 कप बेसन
- 1 onion/1 प्याज
- ½ cup wholemeal flour/1/2 कप साबुत आटा
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds/1 बड़ा चम्मच धनिया के बीज
- 1 tablespoon green chilli chopped/ 1 बड़ा चम्मच मिर्च
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric/1/4 टीस्पून हल्दी
- 1 teaspoon salt/1 टीस्पून नमक
- 1 teaspoon garam masala/1 टीस्पून गरम मसाला
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder/1 टीस्पून लाल मिर्च पाउडर
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate seeds/1 बड़ा चम्मच अनार दाना
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds/1 बड़ा चम्मच जीरा
- chopped green coriander/कटा हुआ हरा धनिया
- water for kneading/गूंथने के लिए पानी
- 2 tbsp. oil for brushing
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients with ¼ cup oil.
- Add minimal water if required.
- Knead the dough until it forms a stiff dough.
- Divide in equal parts ,using little oil, roll it into thick flatbreads.
- Heat a non-stick pan and cook flatbread brushing with oil on both sides.
- Cook on both sides until it turns golden brown.
- Serve with raita or mint chutney.
Notes
Besan roti benefits
- It is full of proteins.
- It can be made gluten free, replace atta in above recipe with equal amount of besan.It can be made vegan ,use oil. Use ghee for vegetarian option.
Variations
You can increase the green chillies if you like it spicier. If you like it milder, you may omit green chilli or reduce red chili powder in the recipe.
Equipment
- Stand mixer for kneading
- Tava/griddle
Storage
Besan koki should be consumed within 2-3 days as it contains onion. If you want to store it for longer, refrigerate it.
Looking for thadri recipes?
- Mitho lolo
- Chauthe/Sindhi chothe
- Sanna pakoda
- Koki/Sindhi onion flatbread
- Kali mirch koki/Black pepper flatbread
- Bhugal mawa/Milkcake
Click here to see more Satam/Atham recipes .
Click here to see more bread recipes.
Also, click here to see more recipe videos.
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